oh emotions.

While in Honduras this summer one thing I learned a lot about was sharing. Not sharing clothes and possessions (being a quadruplet has given me more than enough practice at that kind of sharing). But... sharing struggles and sharing emotions both happy and sad. So, here I am, sharing. 


For a reason unknown to myself, I have been very overwhelmed with emotions. This past weekend we all went home for our precious older sister's baby shower for our niece Ada Laine (who has already captured her Aunt Mary Elizabeth's heart!!!) I did not realize how much I missed being with Anna Lee during this time until I was home this weekend and had to leave. I cannot describe to you the amazing mother Anna Lee is becoming already. It is such a sweet thing to see God growing her and preparing her heart. She is so wise and so selfless and so humble. She has been and continues to be such a beautiful example for her sisters. She is an amazing wife to a wonderful husband. He leads her in truth and she serves him well. Anna Lee amazes me. I came home today to read her blog (as I do every thursday) and discovered that she had shared some things about Will, Sarah, Caitlin and I. I am so undeserving of her kind words. I am honored to call her my big sister. I am so thankful for her. And I cannot wait to meet my beautiful niece. I am amazed at God's marvelous work. "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb." -Psalm 139:13

I am in Bible study with some of the most amazing girls ever led by the wonderful Sarah Katheryn Heinss!!!!  We are going through a Kay Arthur study on 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus titled "Walking in Power, Love and Discipline." It is so good so far. This week we camped out in 1st Timothy 2: 9-15. 

9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire,10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

This of course sparked conversation. We learned a lot from studying this passage and cross referencing it. We studied what our role was as women in the church and how that role spilled out into our daily lives, specifically in marriage. The husband's role of headship and our role of submission. 

As I was doing my Bible study my mind could not help but overflow with memories from Dallas this summer. While in Dallas we fed the homeless a few times. I had the amazing privilege to sit down and eat with a beautiful couple. They asked me my story and I got to tell them all about it. I then asked theirs. The wife started with these words, "24 years ago I stood before our friends and family and promised to love him for better or for worse. I chose to love him." They have been homeless for over two years. They have no house, they have no car, they have few clothes, they don't eat 3 meals everyday, they don't shower as often as they would like, they have no bed to come home to, they wear string around their fingers in place of their wedding bands. THEY GET IT. She spoke so honestly. As we continued to eat lunch she told more and more of their story. Her husband had made some bad life decisions and lost his job and their car and their house. She could have blamed him and told me how it was all his fault but she didn't. Here they are having been through so much and she chooses daily to love him. To stand beside him. To serve him. To submit to his headship. Oh how they get what love truly is.  

I, being emotional, began to cry as I was sharing with the girls at Bible study this story. They were precious and cried right along with me. This couple has nothing and yet they are so joyful. After the beautiful lady finished their story it opened up an opportunity to share with them. Share with them that they are a picture of the Gospel. 

School has become a little stressful in the past week and a half. I wrote my first college paper for British Literature 2. It is very safe to say that I freaked out while writing it. I am not a writer, I am a reader. Going into the paper I had zero confidence in my abilities. I have friends who are AMAZING writers (Cole Batson, George Hamm and Caitlin Haynes!!!!) and so I was so intimidated by their skills. God is so faithful and so sweet. I am so humbled to share that I made an A on my paper. My confidence is up a little bit. :)

Of course, I am missing my girls in Honduras. I have pictures in my room that remind me of them daily. Oh how I pray for them. Pray that the ones who know the Lord will seek after His word and He will make Himself clear to them, and for the ones who do not know Him, I pray diligently for their salvation. Oh how I miss them. And oh how I miss my team. They are some of my best friends. They know me better than a lot of people I live in the same town with. It is hard to be with someone every hour of every day for an entire month and then be half a country away. 

This is my life at the moment. Learning. Growing. Being stretched. 

“This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.”
- Isaiah 48:1